Breast Wishes

Breast wishes is an article written by Vanessa Richmond assistant editor of The Tyee discusses breast augmentation and gender satisfaction. The article begins by introducing the marketing campaign put out by victroia secret. Their message is that big boobs are sexy and everyone wants them so why not spoil your significant other by buying a pair for both of you. The author is clearly against breast augmentation admitting that she would like to report that more woman are dissatisfied with the result of getting a boob job. She ponders whether woman who get their breasts done feel more satisfied because they feel sexier and more attractive to men. She wonders if breast implants affects desire and sex. She interviewed two dozen men 18 to 50, who responded negatively. All of the men except for the political strategist were against fake breasts.
This article is one of several in a week-long series. It is written from a woman’s perspective who claims to have friend who have had the procedure done and is clearly against breast augmentation. In the introduction to her article she incorporates media and marketing ploys by Victoria Secret. She highlights this section as a way to back up her claim that woman are being manipulated by the media that the ideal woman has big boobs, thin waists, lean muscles etc. The author hints in her critique of Maureen Downd’s “Are Men Really Necessary?” that she disapproves of the idea that big breasts and beautiful woman don’t need money; because their beauty can buy them men who will buy these pretty woman what they want. Thus bringing up an interesting idea that perhaps another reason woman are enhancing their breasts is to get ahead in life by using their body to manipulate men. If we are still stuck in a world where men are the leaders, this is a sneaky and unpredictable way for woman to level the playing field by manipulating the men who can otherwise influence their success. On the flip side, is this because the men find the woman more attractive and are thus more lenient and willing to put in the effort to try and get these women’s attention? If this is the case, who is controlling who? Is this a factory in the psychology behind woman who get their breasts enlarged?
The only two options the author indicates that woman are influenced by to get breast augmentations both surround pleasing men. What about other woman? Woman who have the procedure all have positive reviews and state that they feel more comfortable with their appearance, and are more confident. When people are more confident about themselves it effects many areas of their lives, not just their sex life which is what this article focusses on. A cancer survivor for example after all their trauma and blows to their self confidence like loosing their hair, and gaining weight with the estrogen inhibitor pills they must take after treatment often turn to reconstructive surgery and breast implants to rebuild and re-shape their self-confidence and image. Someone who has a genetic defect might turn to breast augmentation to even out their breast size. A gender transformation often incorporates breast implants. These woman are engaging in this behavior because they are striving to improve their physical form to match their ideal self. This is a common trend throughout history and is scene in almost every culture. Society and media may influence our opinions of beauty, but every society since before the ancient Egyptians worshiped beauty and strived to reach a perfection that often involved mutilation in some form; feet binding, tattoo scarring, piercing, corsets, skin bleaching or bleeding the list is quite long.
This paper was published in 2006, which is perhaps why Kerry Gold felt that swollen members would be how we remember that era in pop culture. Its true that it was a bit of a transitional moment; music was changing, reality television was really starting to hit the market and influence social media, my space and